Nintendo Direct 17th May 2013 Roundup

Today saw the latest of Nintendo’s ongoing “Direct” screencast series, with which they hope to create a much more personal connection with their fanbase and to keep their Nintendites salivating at the lips regarding up-coming Wii U and 3DS titles.

Much like previous entries however, today’s Direct was a bit of a damp squib – with not much revealed that we didn’t already know. There were however some release dates nailed, so we now know when to expect a few of their titles to drop.

First up was an announcement that Nintendo and Sega have reached a deal to offer exclusive titles for Nintendo’s flagship consoles. The first of these titles to see the light of day will be Sonic Lost World – an action platformer featuring everyone’s favourite blue hedgehog. No concrete details were offered however.

We also got a sneak peak at the new Sonic & Mario Winter Olympics game, which looks a lot of fun, if not very similar to it’s summer counterpart.

Being the year of Luigi, we did finally get a release date and a short glimps of Super Luigi Bros U – the Super Mario Bros U DLC – that promises new levels, unique gameplay and a new playable character (Nabbit for all those that are interested). You will be able to grab Super Luigi Bros U from the Nintendo eStore on June the 20th. No pricing details were mentioned at this time. If you don’t already own Super Mario Bros U, there will be a special edition retailer copy available to buy in stores from July 26th onwards.

We also got a much greater look at Pikmin 3 which does indeed look a great deal of fun, building on it’s predecessors with rich environments, all new characters and Wii U gamepad integration. Pikmin 3 will also be available to buy on the 26th of July.

Game and Wario also got a look in. Those who’ve played the previous iterations will be familiar with it’s wacky mini-games and mind-boggling sense of humour. The new edition to the series looks to offer even more enjoyment thanks to use of the Wii U gamepad alongside the already traditional Wiimote and Nunchuk combination.